Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book “Team of Rivals” is such a wonderful except at the presidential level. Goodwin allows the reader to understand the political rivalry that normally occurs in the political scene by specifically analyzing how President Abraham Lincoln was able to put together his team. She clearly explains to the public that cabinet plays a key leadership role of the country while the president is just the one responsible and if controlled well it can establish a better working relationship (Doris, 2011 p. 6).
Goodwin explains further that Lincoln with his good intention appointed the able men to the critical cabinet but these people later conspires against him to challenge his authority. He came to the limelight after appointing people like, Seward, Wells, Stanton, and Bates. The three had the attitude that the president is nothing but a country lawyer. Seward for instance, faced the wrath of Lincoln when he tried to dictate a policy concerning Fort Sumpter only to realize that though the president elect was a country lawyer he was not stupid. In 1964 when the president faced the first war-time he had an encounter with Chase. He manipulated innocent people to take Republicans nomination without the president’s knowledge. Though Lincoln knew this he kept quiet and pretends to know nothing. Immediately after the fall of Atlanta, Lincoln was given nomination for the Republicans party(Doris, 2011 p. 22).
As she concludes the author focuses on those people who had become a headache to him and yet they were running very critical government ministries. The three at first thought that they were just as equal with the president but after having a good interaction with him they found that in fact he was very intelligent and would deal with them if they try any mischief. He also came to realize the challenges of appointing political rivals into office but still he knew that that point in time he required smart and reputable individuals (Doris, 2011 p. 53). Though Seward, Chase, and Stanton were backbiting and idiosyncrasies that is characters who are schemy, rigid, and some even with superiority complex. The cabinet is a team charged with the responsibility of advising the president and so Lincoln would always listen to them before making any major decision. Lincoln however admired the talent and not much of their rivalry and hunger for power. Indeed his team was named one of the most talented cabinet team in history because he understood how to recognized the talents of his juniors.
Goodwin however, failed to capture the negative side that led to assassination during their reign. A reader, who wishes to have a picture on how the able team of Abraham Lincoln, worked in collaboration to win the Civil War. After assassination of Lincoln the team breaks up clearly sending a message that it is him who brought cohesiveness in the team. It was necessary that a man like Lincoln was required to reconstruct the team once again unfortunately it was the opposite. This was a failure on the part of the author to cover the other side of the coin.
This is a wonderful historical work describing how to form a powerful team of transformational leadership who can move the country to the next level. This is a story which is applicable even in the current politics which is a great lesson in politics of today equipping individuals with skills on how to make the government work even in extra ordinary times(Doris, 2011 p. 178).
Reference
Doris Kearns Goodwin (2011). Team of Rivals:A Lesson in Politics for Today: New York: Free Press.
